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Fliers accuse Boulder County commissioners of 'treason' in paving decisions

By John FryarLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
12/26/2013 02:33:35 PM MST

Updated:
12/26/2013 03:32:47 PM MST

Someone upset at the Boulder County commissioners over the creation of a local improvement district has been producing fliers stating that each of the three commissioners is "wanted for treason" and for "unfair taxation and crimes against the state."

The fliers target the commissioners for a special assessment district to fund the paving of roads in almost 120 rural residential subdivisions, with some of the fliers stating: "How would you like to be taxed $7000 for the road in front of your house?"

Those fliers invite readers to "visit bocofirm.org to become informed."

This flier targets Boulder County commissioner Deb Gardner.

But Chuck Wibby, the co-chairman of Boulder County Fairness in Road Maintenance, said the organization had nothing to do with producing or distributing the fliers. BoCoFIRM opposes the county's Subdivision Paving Local Improvement District and the county's assessments on nearly 10,900 properties.

All three sets of fliers -- each bearing a photo of one of the commissioners -- were dropped off at Commissioner Cindy Domenico's Lafayette home last week. The flier bearing Commissioner Elise Jones' picture was distributed in Jones' Boulder neighborhood.

Commissioner Deb Gardner, who lives in Longmont, said Thursday that she didn't see any of the fliers before leaving on vacation last week but that they may have shown up there since.

"It's hard to say who did it," Domenico said Thursday. "They were anonymous."

Domenico said her reaction to the fliers "was disappointment, more than anything." She said its producers appear unable or unwilling to have "a civil discourse" with the commissioners about the issue of who should pay for rehabilitating subdivision roads.

Domenico said her husband found the three separate fliers, one with her photo, one with Jones' and one with Gadner's, outside their home Dec. 19.

"I don't know" how many of Domenico's neighbors got them, she said.

The fliers delivered to Domenico's home included her home address and telephone number, an incorrect home address for Jones, and neither a home address nor a telephone number for Gardner.

Wibby said he'd be contacting BoCo FIRM's attorney "to see what we can do if we find out who is responsible."

In a separate email to other members of FIRM's steering committee, Wibby asked them if they had any information about who produced or distributed the "treason" flier that included that organization's web address "without our permission or knowledge."

Wibby said he'd forward that information to FIRM's attorney "to determine whether or not we have any legal recourse against the person(s) responsible."

This flier targets Boulder County commissioner Cindy Domenico.

Wibby is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed in November that claims the LID violates state laws and the Colorado Constitution. The plaintiffs contend the LID's assessments amount to a "new tax," "tax rate increase" or "tax policy change," situations where the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights requires advance voter approval.

Said Gardner: "I just think it's a shame that this has become so personal. ... I don't think it's a valuable way to discuss the issue."

Jones said the anonymous fliers were "a little scary, truthfully," although she added that "I guess it goes with the territory" of being an elected officeholder in the midst of debates over a controversial issue.

"Nobody quarrels with having a democratic give-and-take" during debates over an issue, Jones said, but she said the fliers go "over the top" when people disagreeing with the commissioners' subdivision paving district decisions categorize those decisions as "treason."

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